The Philip Pape Dove

Conserving and recording a 20th-century sculpture using 3D scanning methods.

  • The Philip Pape Dove

    The Philip Pape Dove

  • Undergoing treatment

    Undergoing treatment

  • Evidence of damage

    Evidence of damage

  • Photomicrohraph of paint layers

    Photomicrohraph of paint layers

Made by the Barton-Upon-Humber based sculptor Philip Pape for a local retirement home, this fibreglass sculpture of a dove, set into a stone plinth, had clear signs of damage. This was predominantly due to poor repairs and extensive fills. Furthermore, the entire surface had been painted in gold oil paint, obscuring the original finish and appearance as the artist had intended.

We were commissioned to conserve and record the sculpture. This was achieved by:

  • Carrying out an initial condition assessment and analysis of the surface coatings
  • Removing the later disfiguring gold oil paint to reveal the original surface
  • Conducting cross sectional analysis of the surface coating by optical microscopy 
  • Removing later fills and re-bonding previously broken and detached sections back into place
  • Filling a large area of loss in the limestone plinth with limestone dust held in a suitable binding medium.
  • Touching up areas requiring new colour using the same technique as the artist 
  • Covering the entire surface in a protective wax coating
  • Scanning the object to create a 3D digital record